After that, going to get onto Fool's Assassin, the first of the Fitz and the Fool trilogy by Robin Hobb... A friend recommended Hobb's books to me, I started them not too long ago, and i'm hooked. I really am hooked. Shame this trilogy is the finale. Or at least, I think it is.

!!!!! Yay Fitz and Fool <3 I haven't read Fool's Assassin yet, I still have to read the Tawny Man series. I tried when I was younger but found out who Fitz gets with and got so mad I threw the book across the room and never picked it up again. But I will once I get Assassin's Fate.

Have you read the whole series? Apparently the Rain Wild Chronicles should be read before Fool's Assassin. They even released an official reading order:

I have indeed read the rest of the series, in that order. I was waiting for Assassin's Fate to be released before I began the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Really enjoying it so far. Amazing read.

Eilatan wrote:

Also, have you heard of Mark Lawrence's newest, Red Sister? Harper Collings put up a sample, (not sure if you can access that). But it's totally on my to read. I hear it's a bit like Jay Kristoff's Nevernight, but a bit more gory. So yeah.

I haven't heard of Red Sister yet, but I can imagine who it's about already. Red Queens War is a great read, as was the Broken Empire trilogy, and they're both related to each other, which is interesting, a huge common world built between the two trilogies. I get the feeling this is the start of another trilogy, would I be right in guessing that? Either way, i'm definitely interested.

Never read Nevernight, though. I've been getting through a few fantasy type books lately though, Scott Lynch's books are especially good, The Gentleman B*stard series is one to keep an eye on. Imagine a dark (really damn dark, seriously) fantasy setting, not much magic going on but it is present, and we're following a band of thieves and conmen. I've heard it likened to being a fantasy Oceans Eleven, but much more grim, and hilarious in places too.

Daniel Polansky's Low Town books are also really good. Again, a criminal in a fantasy setting, this time following a guy called Warden, a drug dealer who used to be a soldier, and his life in Low Town.

And, for fans of Lovecraft, Charles Stross's Laundry series is pretty fantastic, it's like James Bond vs Cthulhu, sort of, except The Laundry (which is the branch of the secret service for this stuff) is equipped with paranormal weapons, and the main character is an IT technician rather than a suave super-spy. Thankfully, his IT skills do come in handy, because magic can be done via complicated mathematics, but generally is best to be done via computer program (or smartphone app).

...Scott Lynch's books are especially good, The Gentleman B*stard series is one to keep an eye on. Imagine a dark (really damn dark, seriously) fantasy setting, not much magic going on but it is present, and we're following a band of thieves and conmen. I've heard it likened to being a fantasy Oceans Eleven, but much more grim, and hilarious in places too.

Mhm, mhm The Lies of Locke Lamora is probably my favorite book in the whole world, and Locke and Jean are my favorite literary duo, hands down.

Ysim wrote:

Ooohh, I just finished that one recently. Loved it. ^^

I'm currently listening to The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on audiobook (those count, right?) and reading my way (admittedly slowly) through Brisingr (the 3rd Eragon book), because I never actually finished that series before.

I should also finish The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I started it, loved it, and then lost it somewhere. I've never read Eragon, I saw the movie first and wasn't interested in the books after that (though I hear they're much better).

I've never read Eragon, I saw the movie first and wasn't interested in the books after that (though I hear they're much better).

The movie was.....I prefer to pretend the movie never existed.

There are definitely portions of the books that (in my opinion) get dull or easily predictable, but overall I think it's a good story. Or maybe I'm just easily entertained. In either case, try to completely ignore the movie when decided whether or not to read the books.

I haven't heard of Red Sister yet, but I can imagine who it's about already. Red Queens War is a great read, as was the Broken Empire trilogy, and they're both related to each other, which is interesting, a huge common world built between the two trilogies. I get the feeling this is the start of another trilogy, would I be right in guessing that? Either way, i'm definitely interested.

Red Sister is supposed to be a new trilogy, not set in the same world as his other works. So the character is a fresh face. But I have heard it praised by Mark Lawrence fans, so I am sure it stacks up to his previous world.

The HB wrote:

Never read Nevernight, though. I've been getting through a few fantasy type books lately though, Scott Lynch's books are especially good, The Gentleman B*stard series is one to keep an eye on. Imagine a dark (really damn dark, seriously) fantasy setting, not much magic going on but it is present, and we're following a band of thieves and conmen. I've heard it likened to being a fantasy Oceans Eleven, but much more grim, and hilarious in places too.

Funny, I heard it described the same way! It is definitely on my to-read list. I believe En'enra also recommended I read it.

HB, If you are just getting into fantasy lately, am I correct in assuming it's not your preferred genre? :O What is?

En'enra, the movie was... ehhhhhh. As book movie usually go, I did like it more than others, but it chopped off quite a bit. I read Eragon way before the movie, so maybe my judgement is clouded. But like Xand, I also got bored after wading through Eldest. Xand told me Brisingr picks up again, though, so I will one day finish the series. I have heard people say Eragon stole its good parts from The Lord of the Rings (elves, dragons, magic, etc.), but it is an unfair comparison. Eragon is like if someone tried to make LOTR a Young Adult novel... I can't say if they succeeded or not because I am yet to finish.

Well, I don't think that "stealing" from Tolkien is such a bad thing; LOTR is probably among the first things that fantasy authors read, so it's natural that it leaves a mark on their work (especially for someone as young as the writer of Eragon was, 15 if I remember correctly?). And it's such a monumental work, too. Somebody made a story map for Robert Jordan's The Eye of the World, and it matches The Fellowship of the Ring exactly. I still don't think that makes it a bad copy of LOTR, in fact starting off with the familiar makes a stronger foundation for a story to grow on.

Anyways, I'll put it on a list and see for myself, if I ever reach it.

Funny story with Sabriel. It was assigned reading in the Fantasy and Fiction class I took in San Francisco in 2011. It seemed my teacher was a big fan of Garth Nix and the Abhorsen series. It wasn't until the end of last year at an Australian publishing house event that I realised Garth is actually an Aussie. He's so internationally known, he even did signings in Ireland, and when I tell Aussies how I found his books they seem amazed that he's well known out side of Aus! And in exciting news my bookclub gets to sit down with him next week, being about the only time he's ever done an event with a bookclub. Now I just need to fully read Frogkisser.

I totally recommend Frogkisser. It's a "turning fairytales on their heads" sort of story, and definitely Young Adult fantasy, but it's got such Garth Nix humour that I think everyone would enjoy it.

I read Sabriel and Lirael more than a decade ago. Back then, my library only had those two. I'll have to look them up again!

I'm starting the final third of A Memory of Light.

There's five books in the series now. Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Clariel and Goldenhand. The event we went to last year had an early release of Goldenhand. I believe it's the last in the series, but who knows. ~

How's A Memory of Light? I have Elantris sitting on my shelf and should probably read that at some point. Especially since I hear Brandon Sanderson is visiting one of our conventions here. (We've been getting lucky with author visits in the last few years, it is usually a rare thing to get a big authors visiting).

A Memory of Light is a perfect grand finale for the Wheel of Time series. I feel that Brandon Sanderson did an amazing job with the final three books. The difference between Jordan's style and his own is clearly felt (Jordan's was slow, deliberate, epic, while Sanderson's is more casual, fast-paced, engaging), but Sanderson successfully adapted his style to Jordan's series, which brought some much-needed fresh air into those final books.

Elantris is way different to his WoT books; being his debut novel, it has a very interesting premise and plot, but I found its ending somewhat unsatisfying. It was kind of deus ex machina and left a lot of questions unanswered (with a sequel in mind, which Sanderson keeps promising ).

If you haven't read it yet, I recommend his first Mistborn trilogy. Not only does it fix those flaws, but it contains some of the best foreshadowing I've seen, which is very, very satisfying to see fulfilled.

I haven't heard of Red Sister yet, but I can imagine who it's about already. Red Queens War is a great read, as was the Broken Empire trilogy, and they're both related to each other, which is interesting, a huge common world built between the two trilogies. I get the feeling this is the start of another trilogy, would I be right in guessing that? Either way, i'm definitely interested.

Red Sister is supposed to be a new trilogy, not set in the same world as his other works. So the character is a fresh face. But I have heard it praised by Mark Lawrence fans, so I am sure it stacks up to his previous world.

I hope so, his previous work is absolutely brilliant.

Eilatan wrote:

The HB wrote:

Never read Nevernight, though. I've been getting through a few fantasy type books lately though, Scott Lynch's books are especially good, The Gentleman B*stard series is one to keep an eye on. Imagine a dark (really damn dark, seriously) fantasy setting, not much magic going on but it is present, and we're following a band of thieves and conmen. I've heard it likened to being a fantasy Oceans Eleven, but much more grim, and hilarious in places too.

Funny, I heard it described the same way! It is definitely on my to-read list. I believe En'enra also recommended I read it.

HB, If you are just getting into fantasy lately, am I correct in assuming it's not your preferred genre? :O What is?

Yeah, The Lies of Locke Lamora is an absolutely fantastic read, and the next two are brilliant too. Got book 4 preordered already.

As for my preferred genre, i'm not overly sure. I used to love reading horror novels, and military based books too, those written by Chris Ryan used to be favourites. I still love a good horror novel, never used to read much fantasy, but then most fantasy I read was all the same sort of thing. Every fantasy series I used to see was filled with elves and dwarves and wizards, the "standard fantasy setting" that became cliche and tired. I still don't read books with that sort of setting, I find the fantasies I really enjoy have something different about them, whether it's fantasy but a "low magic" setting, like Game of Thrones (at first), or whether it just goes "hey lets do something weird and original" like pretty much all of China Mieville's work, or when Neil Gaiman decides to get a bit weird.

I don't know, I got bored with "elves and dwarves and wizards and men on a quest for good against the forces of evil" as soon as I finished the Lord of the Rings books. As soon as some ambiguity and personal stakes get added in, with characters you can relate to that are more than just a force of nature, that's when I sit up and take notice. Which is probably why I love Robin Hobb's books so much, and why The Dresden Files books interest me as much as they do.

Though I don't know how you feel about Young Adult novels, so I don't have many suggestions. I think En'enra reads more Adult fantasy, so she might know some good books.

I haven't. But I certainly don't mind YA novels, i've had a great time with some of them. The first Skulduggery Pleasant book was an absolute joy, really gave me the feeling that the writer was having fun as he wrote the book. Plus, I do have a signed copy of Darren Shan's book Hells Heroes, and a photo with him from a good few years ago!

Plus, I spend a lot of time reading comics too... I have a fair collection.

Currently reading Sworn in Steel by Douglas Hulick. It's book 2 of Tales of the Kin. Had this series recommended to tide me through until the next Gentlemen Bastards (Scott Lynch) or Lightbringer (Brent Weeks) - as others in the thread have mentioned, both are great reads. Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy is also fantastic.